Today is Thanksgiving day in Canada, and there is much to be thankful for. In the garden, colours are bright. Even when the flowers have faded, I’m thankful for work that’s been done. At the Aqueduct the catmint ( Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’) has been cut back, making the bed look more like a…
Is it accurate to call The Big Lawn at Glen Villa The Big Meadow? If you use an American definition, the answer is yes. If you consult an English dictionary, the answer is less clear. Webster’s Dictionary defines a meadow as a tract of low or level land producing grass which is mown for hay, and that definition…
Little things mean a lot, in the garden as well as in song. It’s the little things that explain why we gardeners are always looking and re-looking. Shall I move this plant, modify this combination, add or subtract? This past week I’ve been changing some little things at the Skating Pond. After 12 years, a few…
Even while summer is coming to an end, the garden continues to make me happy. I’m really pleased with the gravel garden. Early in the summer we adjusted the slate border; now it steps rather than slopes down, giving a firmer definition to the edge. While the yucca didn’t bloom this year, it did produce…
Finishing The Upper Room, the area that honours my mother and her beliefs, was one of my goals for 2017. I started work on the area last summer, hoping to finish then, but everything took longer than expected. This year, the sand-blasted panels that are the central feature were installed in the spring, the area was planted…
It’s less than a week until our second annual Open Garden Day. I’m ready for it, bilingual volunteers are prepped, and the garden is looking fine. So I hope I’ll see you here, next Saturday between 10 and 4. There’s no need to reserve a spot, and all are welcome, with admission payable on site. (No…
Yesterday was Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. The 15th of the month is when garden bloggers from around the world post photos of what is blooming in their garden. (Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this meme.) I haven’t been doing this, and I’m not sure I will in the future. But I can’t resist…
This week the first group of gardeners will be coming to tour Glen Villa. Forty plus members of the Ottawa Garden Club will spend the morning here, on what I’m hoping will be a sunny day. They are coming at a good time — the garden is looking fabulous. I rarely write a blog post that’s only…
Coming home from a tour of English gardens I felt a short, sharp shock. Everything in my garden looked inadequate, not up to the standard I had come to expect. I moped. I complained. Why can’t I grow the hundreds of plants I saw and admired? Some of them must surely suit my climate. So why don’t…
I share something with Jan Johnsen, author of The Spirit of Stone — a respect for stones and the qualities they bring to a landscape. At Glen Villa, my garden in Quebec, I’ve used stones in paths, steps and walls. I’ve used them more unusually in the gabion walls of The Aqueduct and in the parking area…